Articles by Jack Quick

Chery has just launched a new electric micro hatchback in China that goes up against the BYD Seagull and Leapmotor T03.

Have you ever been annoyed how your phone call takes over the entire screen in your car when connected to Apple CarPlay? If so, this latest software update will fix this problem for you.

After over a decade on sale, the Land Rover Discovery Sport has received yet another minor refresh with new trim levels and curated option packages.The line-up has now been paired back to just three variants across two trim levels called Landmark and Metropolitan. All Dynamic SE and HSE trims, along with the entry-level S model with the P200 turbo-petrol engine, have been axed.As a result, the entry price for the Discovery Sport has risen by almost $5000, but it gets the more powerful P250 turbo-petrol engine as standard, among other changes.The 2026 Discovery Sport line-up starts at $78,454 before on-roads for the Landmark P250, extending to $91,955 before on-roads for the Metropolitan P250.A table detailing the pricing for all Discovery Sport variants is at the bottom of this story.The Discovery Sport Landmark is now the entry point to the line-up, available in both P250 turbo-petrol and P300e plug-in hybrid guises. The latter offers up to 66km of electric range, according to NEDC testing.The Landmark name is a call back to the mountain range logo that was first seen on the original 1989 Land Rover Discovery.This logo features on the aluminium treadplates, along with Landmark script. The logo is also projected onto the ground from the side mirror puddle lights.In addition to having a digital instrument cluster, an 11.4-inch Pivi Pro curved glass touchscreen multimedia system, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and paddle shifters like all Discovery Sport models, the Landmark trim gains slide-and-recline functionality for the second row, a panoramic glass sunroof, ‘click & go’ media holders in the second row, and a surround-view camera.The Land Rover Discovery Sport Metropolitan, on the other hand, sits at the top of the line-up and is only offered with the P250 turbo-petrol engine.It can be distinguished by Atlas Silver Discovery script on the bonnet and tailgate, as well as Indus Silver front and rear undershields. The front grille also has a unique silver insert and there are 20-inch diamond-turned multi-spoke alloy wheels.Inside there are Metropolitan-branded treadplates, 14-speaker Meridian surround sound system, digital rear-view mirror, cabin air purification system, Windsor leather upholstery, and 14-way electrically adjustable front seats that are also heated and ventilated.In addition to this, there are now a range of new curated option packages.New Beach Days, Road Trip and Snow Days packages join the existing Biking Adventures and For Dogs packages.The Beach Days package adds a centre armrest cooler, tailored sunshades, as well as a collapsible organiser for the boot.The Road Trip package includes ‘click & go’ media holders in the second row, as well as cross bars and a roof box.The Snow Days package adds cross bars and a ski and snowboard carrier, rubber floor mats, as well as a ‘Snow’ traction control mode.As previously, the Discovery Sport comes standard with five seats, though it can be optioned with a third row, bring the total number of seats to seven.Land Rover claims there are 24 possible seating configurations thanks to the sliding and reclining second row, and with the third- and second-row seats folded there’s 1794 litres of boot space available.In the first five months of 2025, Land Rover has sold a total of 167 Discovery Sport examples. This is up 60.6 per cent year-on-year.

Jaguar has just confirmed its launching a special, final edition of the fire-breathing F-Pace SVR exclusively for Australia.

Cupra has confirmed the pricing of its coming Tiguan-sized Terramar SUV ahead of first deliveries commencing in July.

Around eight months after the facelifted Genesis GV70 line-up arrived locally, the brand has detailed the electric version ahead of imminent deliveries.

Ute sales in Australia have been ballooning out for years now, but it seems the bubble for this has already popped following consecutive months of declining sales.In May 2025, sales of pick-up and cab-chassis 4x2, pick-up and cab-chassis 4x4, and even pick-up and cab-chassis over $100,000 were all down compared to the same month last year and year-on-year.This means not only sales for Thai-made utes like the Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max, among others, are down, but also larger, typically North American-made full-size pickups like the Chevrolet Silverado and Ford F-150 are down.It’s the second month in a row where all the ute segments have experienced a drop in sales both year-on-year and compared to the same month last year.This follows a downward trend for overall new vehicle sales. It’s expected new car sales in 2025 won’t beat the record high of 2024.Utes that have experienced some of the sharpest downturns in sales year-to-date (YTD) include the Ford F-150 (534 sales, down 35.5 per cent), Ford Ranger 4x2 (1299 sales, down 47.3 per cent), KGM SsangYong Musso (882 sales, down 41.8 per cent), Nissan Navara 4x2 (162 sales, down 67.1 per cent), Ram 3500 (5 sales, down 81.5 per cent), and the Volkswagen Amarok (2434 sales, down 37.8 per cent).Sales of utes like the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux gained a considerable amount of popularity during COVID times and when the instant asset write-off scheme threshold was higher.Utes have historically always been popular in the business and fleet space in Australia, but over the last decade or so they’ve become more popular for private buyers.This is evidenced by the Ford Ranger, which is more popular with private buyers in 4x4 guise.The Ranger and HiLux have been tussling for the top position for the better side of a decade now, with the former claiming the podium for the last two years.As previously reported, Toyota Australia Vice President Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, Sean Hanley, said the dominance of dual-cab utes will come to an end this year and an SUV could be the best-selling car for the first time ever.This SUV could be the Toyota RAV4.In May, a total of 4003 examples of the RAV4 were sold. Despite this being down 27.4 per cent on the same month last year, it was still the third best-selling car for the month, behind only the HiLux and Ranger.“We already know that the number of ute models available to Australian buyers will expand rapidly,” said Mr Hanley back in January.“They’ll be competing for an overall ute market that is likely to remain steady, which suggests that the average sales per model will come down as a result.”“It may be, and I stress maybe, that an SUV could rise to the top of the national sales charts in the next year or two, and just maybe that SUV will be a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.”Toyota has since unveiled a new-generation version of the RAV4 which is set to arrive locally in the first half of 2026.At this stage it’s unclear whether this will impact the potential of the RAV4 achieving the sales title in Australia this year, though at some point production of the current model will wind down to make way for the new model.

Hybrids, specifically plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), are selling stronger than they ever have in Australia, and China’s Leapmotor is expecting to cash in on this trend with its newest model.

Although it was only introduced locally in 2024, GWM’s Tank 500 SUV has been on sale in China since 2022 and it has now been spied in an updated form.

The current-generation Renault Koleos has been on sale in Australia for over nine years now and it seems it will be sticking around for another year as another minor tweak has been made.